Wednesday, October 14, 2009

AV star Maria Ozawa stirs up controversy in Jakarata for not taking her clothes off

by Chris MaGee

It's true, the J-Film Pow-Wow doesn't really report on Japanese porn, of course not meaning erotic pink films, but straight up hardcore adult video... not unless that world overlaps with mainstream Japanese or Asian film, and that looks like exactly what's happening in Jakarta. The notoriously conservative capital of Indonesia is up in arms over the proposed arrival of Japanese-Canadian porn star Maria Ozawa to shoot a mainstream teen comedy titled "Kidnapping Miyabi". Written by Indonesian comedian Radika Ditya, the film would feature Ozawa as basically herself, a Japanese actress named Miyabi (the name that Ozawa goes by in Indonesia) who is accidentally kidnapped by three teenagers and ends up stuck in Jakarta. In the end she decides to stay and opens up a lingerie shop.

Okay, it certainly doesn't sound like "Citizen Kane", but the film's producer, Maxima Pictures, doesn't want high art. Their goal is to simply release a "happy New Year's movie", and most importantly a movie that wouldn't feature any adult content. Unfortunately Ozawa's reputation is proceeding her arrival, and despite the fact that the Indonesian Minister of Religious Affairs, Maftuh Basyuni, has been quoted as saying that "As long as she is not here for porn movie, it is all right," Muslim citizens and students have been protesting against Ozawa's trip to Jakarta, waving placards that read "Reject the arrival of Miyabi, the destroyer of our nation's morality."

It's kind of sad in a way. Ozawa, the 23-year-old veteran of hundreds of adult videos has recently been trying to shuffle off her porn star past with appearances in the Japanese TV series "Mission Section Chief Hitoshi Tadano" and the Taiwanese horror movie "Invitation Only," but it seems that at least in Indonesia people won't let her forget her former career.